Adelaide University Scuba Club

2010-09-03T21:36:00.006+09:30

Some of the lucky few who managed to get work or uni off, headed down to Marion Bay early on the 1/4/2010. On arriving and inspecting the conditions that faced us, it was decided to go out from Innes National Park and that a beach launch at Pondalowie Bay was the best move to kick off the first dive of the trip. Sam, Edwina, Lydia, Gav, Ben and myself decided on diving the stretch of cliff on the

AV Ulonga

2010-06-17T14:42:00.001+09:30

Hey guys and gals,Sorry for the late review but better late than never!!!!!!A couple of weeks ago the club finally got a trifecta (No wind , dodge tide and all on a weekend) so some of us lucky ones got to head out on Stargazer to do a double on the HMAS Hobart. (Lydia has done a write up on that particular dive)But for

Coobowie

2010-06-15T18:20:00.004+09:30

June 12 - 14, 2010.The dive club headed over to Coobowie for the June long weekend and with the great weather, it proved to be an awesome weekend of diving. We started the diving off with a dive on Edithburgh Jetty. It proved to be beautiful as always with its amazing array of colourful sponges and beautiful marine life. The water was a little chilly at just 14 degrees and after an hour in the

External Dive - Amadee Island, New Caledonia

2010-06-15T14:36:00.006+09:30

Amadee Island, via Noumea, New CaledoniaApril 2010For us, the best parts of a cruise are the day trips ashore. Why? Because they give you the chance to in fact not be lazing on the shore, but exploring under the water. The port of call was Noumea, and the day trip was to a beautiful little island called Amadee.To get there we left the 2000-passenger cruise ship to take a high speed vessel called

Exernal Dive - Manly NSW

2010-06-12T09:56:00.008+09:30

Shelly Beach, ManlyMarch 2010Shelly Beach reminded us of Port Noarlunga to some extent – located not far from the city, easy access from the shore, max depth about 12m, fun spot for divers and snorkellers alike. It’s a safe site where a lot of beginners learn to dive, with a large variety of marine life, and has bee protected as a ‘No Take’ Aquatic Reserve since 2002.The highlights included the

Club Dive- Ex-HMAS Hobart

2010-06-07T01:11:00.003+09:30

Originally one of Australia's great naval destroyers, the ex-HMAS Hobart is now Australia's most accessible and exciting war wreck (seen opposite in California, 1992). It was sunk at Yankalilla Bay in November 2002 and has ever since been an amazing dive site as this marine reserve is home to a great array of flora and fauna. The total area that divers can explore is around 90,000 square metres

External Dive - Coff's Harbour, NSW

2010-04-20T15:06:00.004+09:30

Coff's Harbour is the nearest access to the South Solitary Islands, an extinct volcano about 30 minutes off the coast of NSW. Although bathed by the East Australia Current, this group of rocks feature fish and soft coral from both the tropical and temperature climatic regions. Jetty Dive is “the only show in town”, so Captain “Skip” drove the boat (Tuesday, 06 April 2010), Vicky was the dive

External Dive - Wooli, NSW

2010-04-20T15:00:00.004+09:30

Wooli is a small village on the edge of the earth, or so it seems after weaving along a third-rate sealed road (and dodging kangaroos) towards the NSW coast. Wooli’s harbour is on a river, and Easter Monday our group of nine divers donned lifejackets for the treacherous crossing of the sandbar at the river’s mouth. Captain Stan (owner and divemaster of Wooli Dive) timed his exit through the

External Dive - Byron Bay

2010-04-20T14:52:00.005+09:30

Sundive would seem to have the highest ratings on TripAdvisor of any dive company in Australia. They operate two 6-metre inflatable Zodiacs each carrying 8 divers, a divemaster, and a boat driver on three trips daily out to the Julian Rocks, located about 1.5 km offshore of Byron Bay, NSW. The weather on Easter Sunday morning was cool, overcast, 15-20 knot winds,with a 2-metre swell - great for

External Dive - Cairns, QLD

2010-04-20T14:45:00.004+09:30

“Pro Dive” was recommended by virtually everybody we talked to about diving at Cairns, Queensland. They promised three days at sea, bunk-bed berth accommodation, three meals per day plus snacks, rental of all dive equipment, and eleven dives in the outer reefs of the Great Barrier Reef for A$600.A van collected us from our caravan park at 5:55am, we were fitted for our dive equipment at the shop,

External Dive - Yongala

2010-04-18T15:42:00.005+09:30

After those dive trips out of Port Douglas and Cairns, we drove south of Townsville to the town of Ayr. Weather was still quite nasty and unsettled, even though Cyclone Ului had gone through more than a week previously.Sorry it's taken me two weeks to get this report written, because I've heard that some AUSC people look forward to these little ditties.Here goes.....When you’re asked to pay A$209

External Dive - Port Douglas, QLD

2010-04-18T15:31:00.005+09:30

Quicksilver operates the “SilverSonic” on day trips out of Port Douglas, Queensland, to the Great Barrier Reef. Tuesday morning, 23 March 2010, 63 divers/snorkellers and 11 crew boarded the vessel in overcast skies and a 25-30 knot gale. As we cleared the harbour some passengers started spewing into their seasickness bags, but 90 minutes later we entered the relatively calm waters of the

External Dive - Saltees Rule!

2010-03-27T23:34:00.009+10:30

There's no use putting a "sugar coating" on things - trying to scuba divealong the north coast of Australia is tough.March 2010 Saltees Rule!Just as the lion dominates the savannahs of Africa and thepolar bear dominates the ice flows of the Arctic Ocean, estuarinecrocodiles control the northern coast of Australia. Scuba diving along the north coast - from Exmouth (WA) to Port Douglas(QL) - is

March Long Weekend - Coobowie Trip

2010-03-20T14:25:00.005+10:30

The March long weekend trip started of much like any other... an early morning trying to remember to pack everything and sucking down a few iced coffees as we ventured forth to Coobowie in weather that was proving to be more of a hinderance than a blessing.Kathy and Aaron were first to arrive on Saturday 6/03 at Coobowie and was plesantly suprised to find the place was not overrun with rats, mice

External Dive - Cape Range National Park, WA‏

2010-03-20T13:18:00.013+10:30

Cape Range National Park is a snorkerller's dream! Coral bommies of the Ningaloo Reef grow right up to the sandy shoreline of Western Australia, from south of Coral Bay 200km northward to Exmouth. Just as the Leeuwin Current moves warm tropical waters southward outside the barrier reef, the slow-moving Ningaloo Current moves temperate waters northward closer-in along the shoreline.This blending

AUSC - DAN Oxygen Course Completion

2010-03-08T16:32:00.007+10:30

Eight AUSC members successfully completed the DAN Oxygen provision course on Saturday 27 Feb 2010 along with a number of Flinders Uni Underwater Club members. In the morning, Peter M, Damian S, Kathy, Aaron and Luddy were trained by Jack about the recognition of scuba illnesses and injuries that might benefit from the provision of oxygen first aid, and became familiar with the Club's oxygen

External Dive - Exmouth, WA 20/02/10

2010-03-07T21:58:00.005+10:30

Exmouth is a commercial centre at the northern end of the Ningaloo Reef along the coast of Western Australia. From April through July (when the whale sharks are passing by outside the reef) there are upwards of a dozen charter boat operators; during the remainder of the year only one firm can be relied on. Ningaloo Dreaming is the only company with a permit to dive the Navy Pier, and charges A

External Dive - Coral Bay 18/02/10

2010-03-01T09:46:00.003+10:30

Coral Bay is a very small tropical community and the most southerly portion of the Ningaloo Reef along the coast of Western Australia. The non-diver can enjoy a shore-based “float snorkel” (powered by the gentle northward Ningaloo Current) a distance of 1.5km from the boat launch to the town beach, while the diver ventures out into the lagoon with the folks of Ningaloo Reef Diving Centre where a

Trip - Beachport 23-26/01/10

2010-02-22T15:42:00.012+10:30

The Beachport trip has been a first for the club for a good few years, and we utilised the Australia Day on the Tuesday to spread the trip out over four days. Ten dive club members ended up making it down to the small quaint town of Beachport, and we were housed in a couple of holiday houses that Gavriel Mastromihalis had organised (thanks Gav!), with the "mischevious" residence located on the

Local Dive - Dredge 20/02/10

2010-02-22T15:40:00.008+10:30

On Saturday 20th February, an overwhelming 14 dive club members met at the clubrooms to dive a local dive site. Many thanks should be given to Kathy, Aaron and Jo who elected to do a Rapid Bay dive instead, which allowed the dive to go ahead without too many delays. Conditions were quite choppy to say the least, and although Sam boasted at how good he was at finding dive sites straight away, it

External Dive - Albany, WA 9/02/10

2010-02-22T13:53:00.004+10:30

The harbour at Albany, Western Australia, catches the southeast swells that roll in from the Southern Ocean. AlbanyDive.Com is an ECO tour operator who have a “no-take” policy on marine life, and today their smaller 9m boat had an eclectic complement of ten: Uwe the Captain, Clark the divemaster, two British, one Japanese, two Canadians, one German doing a Discover Scuba course, and two Swiss

External Dive - Hamelin Bay, WA 11/02/10

2010-02-22T13:48:00.003+10:30

Hamelin Bay consists of a caravan park and a boat launch along a stretch of sand and limestone shelf south of Perth, Western Australia, in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. Two rocky islets were nearly 1km offshore and we didn’t have a boat, so Kathryn and I decided to snorkel the offshore rocks and ledges. Not too much marine life this close to shore, the usual wrasses and sweeps, but we

External Dive - Esperance, WA 4-7/02/10

2010-02-17T22:13:00.008+10:30

Esperance in Western Australia is similar to Victor Harbor in South Australia, a town with a long and interesting history but now a quiet little beach-side community. Shore dives at Whylie Bay, Twilight Beach, Rossiter Bay, and Lucky Bay all involve an entry where the limestone beach touches the granite, and then swimming around the granite wall as the ocean bottom drops away. Lucky Bay is the

Local Dive - Aldinga Pinnacles 7/02/10

2010-02-09T12:06:00.012+10:30

On Sunday 7th February, the AUSC met quite promptly at 9am to head to O'Sullivans Beach, with the plan to dive Horseshoe Reef. Horseshoe Reef is a rather close rocky reef that use to be part of the old shoreline, and is a good beginners dive as it is quite shallow. However, plans changed as we met to find the carpark overrun with trailers, and sea conditions absolutely perfect - flat, warm and

External Dive - Rottnest Island 31/01/10

2010-02-08T09:35:00.005+10:30

The last day of January 2010 and - after several months of diving South Australia waters off Stargazer or Crayon - it was strange to be on a huge 14m fibreglass boat with 21 divers and 2 crew. “Image Dive” operates out of Hillary’s Harbour, just north of Perth, and Mike(registration / equipment / deckhand / cook) was checking the manifest before Luke (owner / operator / captain) took us on their